The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Some vehicles are powered at least partially by electric motors. For example, purely electric vehicles rely solely on electric motors and batteries and do not include another propulsion source. Hybrid vehicles include a first propulsion source such as an engine or fuel cell and a second propulsion source such as an electric motor. Hybrid vehicles may operate using one or the other or both propulsion sources depending upon the configuration. In some vehicles, the engine is used solely to recharge the batteries and does not to produce drive power for the vehicle. In other vehicles, the engine may power the vehicle instead of or in addition to the electric motor. During operation, the vehicles deplete the electric charge that is stored in the batteries. Consequently, the batteries may need to be recharged periodically.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a vehicle 10 may comprise one or more vehicle control systems 12 that control the operation of the vehicle 10. For example, the vehicle control systems 12 may include a powertrain controller, a transmission controller and/or other controllers (not shown). The controllers may communicate with each other and may receive inputs from one or more sensors. The controllers generate outputs that control one or more vehicle components such as engines, electric motors, transmissions and/or other vehicle systems (not shown). An electric motor 13 may be used to propel the vehicle as previously described above. The vehicle control systems 12 and the electric motor 13 may be powered by a battery 14 during operation.
A charging module 16 may recharge the battery 14 by drawing power from a supply outlet 20. Specifically, the vehicle 10 may include a power receptacle (i.e., a plug) 18 to receive power from the supply outlet 20 via a cable and connector 19. The supply outlet 20 may receive power from a utility company 23 via a power distribution line 21. The supply outlet 20 may provide the power to the vehicle 10. A power meter 22 may measure the amount of power received by the vehicle 10 from the supply outlet 20 to recharge the battery 14.
The recharging time of the battery 14 may vary depending on many factors. The factors may include the type of the battery 14, the amount of charge consumed by the vehicle 10 before recharging, the rate at which power is supplied by the supply outlet 20, etc.